Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 7, NWS North Platte, NE

May 17, 2000Lincoln County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2000, 4:59 PM CDT for Lincoln County, Nebraska. It was in force for 61 min. 8 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 17, 2000, 4:59 PM CDT (21:59 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2000, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS North Platte, NE
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Lincoln County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:01 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 17, 5:04 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Hershey, NE
May 17, 5:05 PM CDT	Hail 1	Hershey, NE
May 17, 5:15 PM CDT	Tornado F3	Brady, NE	The same supercell thunderstorm that had earlier produced the twin tornadoes 20 miles south of Brady produced a large tornado that touched down 6 miles south of Brady and moved toward the northwest lifting 4 miles south of Maxwell. Two women were injured when
May 17, 5:22 PM CDT	Hail 1	Maxwell, NE
May 17, 5:25 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Brady, NE
May 17, 5:25 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 80 E	Hershey, NE	Downburst blew several cars off I-80
May 17, 5:32 PM CDT	Hail 2.5	Brady, NE
May 17, 6:10 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Sutherland, NE

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 17, 2:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 26 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 853 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -378 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 860 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

529 
WFUS53 KLBF 172201
TORLBF
NEC111-172300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
459 PM CDT WED MAY 17 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LINCOLN COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 456 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 11 MILES SOUTHWEST     
  OF NORTH PLATTE...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 30 MPH. AN ADDITIONAL STORM  
  CAPABABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO WAS LOCATED 10 MILES SOUTH OF     
  MAXWELL MOVING NORTHWEST AT ABOUT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NORTH PLATTE AROUND 505 PM CDT
  NEAR HERSHEY AROUND 520 PM CDT
  7 MILES NORTHEAST OF SUTHERLAND AROUND 525 PM CDT

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY...IT MAY SAVE YOUR
LIFE.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM CDT WEDNESDAY EVENING
FOR WESTERN NEBRASKA.

LAT...LON 4071 10123 4070 10022 4139 10024 4137 10128

JWS

The office that day

Everything else NWS North Platte, NE issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 12:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Sheridan	60 min
May 17, 1:12 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Sheridan	63 min
May 17, 3:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Chase, Perkins	39 min
May 17, 3:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Hayes, Lincoln	38 min
May 17, 3:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Frontier	55 min
May 17, 3:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Keith, Perkins	62 min
May 17, 3:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Lincoln, Perkins	27 min
May 17, 4:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	McPherson	43 min
May 17, 4:08 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Keith	52 min
May 17, 4:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Lincoln	48 min
May 17, 4:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Frontier	47 min
May 17, 4:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Custer	56 min
May 17, 4:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Hooker, McPherson	62 min
May 17, 5:09 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Custer	51 min
May 17, 5:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Keith, Lincoln	48 min
May 17, 5:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Custer, Loup	61 min
May 17, 6:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Logan	41 min
May 17, 6:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Custer	66 min
May 17, 6:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Logan	59 min
May 17, 6:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Lincoln	64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.